The Week September 18-24
By Kathleen Adams, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders and Sidney Urquhart
NATION
What White House Shake-Up?
Leon Panetta announced his long-promised and much anticipated shake-up of the Clinton White House staff. The result: some clearer lines of authority but no major changes. Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, whose ouster had been widely rumored, even got a promotion and greater access to the President -- reportedly after circumventing Panetta and making a last-minute plea directly to Clinton.
Health-Care Maneuvers
- Despite attempts at a heroic compromise with a bipartisan, mainstream group of colleagues, Senate majority leader George Mitchell's efforts to pass some kind of health-care reform bill this year teetered on the edge of death. Republican leaders warned that a last-minute rescue effort could jeopardize G.O.P. support for global trade legislation. And some leading reform advocates, preferring to regroup for a fresh start in the next Congress, issued a "do not resuscitate" request.
Cabinet Money Problems
The cloud of a possible independent-counsel probe fell over Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros: the Justice Department indicated it was beginning a preliminary review of Cisneros' payments to a former mistress and the statements he made about the money to federal agents prior to his appointment. Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, who is already the target of an independent counsel investigation regarding his travel expenses, let it be known that he has been voluntarily writing personal reimbursement checks to various benefactors in order to clear up any appearance of impropriety.
Nuclear Freeze
Following a review of the nation's nuclear deterrent, the Pentagon announced it had decided to keep the current arsenal essentially intact, given the uncertainties of the post-cold war world order. By and large, U.S. nuclear forces will not be reduced beyond changes necessitated by Bush-era treaties with Moscow.
Primary Warnings
The week's primary results were not happy ones for Democrats. In Oklahoma, voters ousted veteran Representative Mike Synar, a liberal Clinton ally and an anti-tobacco, antigun war-horse. Nominated in his place was Virgil Cooper, a retired school principal. In Washington State, House Speaker Thomas Foley won a mere 35% of the vote in his state's open primary; four Republican candidates received the balance of the vote. "We are in a period of hesitation and uncertainty," President Clinton told Democrats at a post-primary pep talk. His prescription: "What we have to do is make this election our friend."
The Simpson Case
With jury selection in the O.J. Simpson murder case set to begin on Monday, prosecutors and defense attorneys spent their last week of pretrial hearings arguing over the admissibility of critical evidence seized by police at Simpson's estate. Judge Lance Ito ruled in favor of the prosecution on the vast majority of the disputed evidence. He also attacked what he called "outrageous" and "incorrect" reporting on the case and threatened to kick TV cameras out of the courtroom.
WORLD
Haiti Accepts U.S. Forces
The Haitian junta reluctantly agreed to the arrival of U.S. forces, who asserted control over the Caribbean island's military and police. American troops were initially forced to watch uncomfortably as Haitian police savagely beat civilians -- at least one of them to death -- but they were later given permission to use force to prevent such violence. On Saturday, Marines killed eight Haitian men in a firefight outside a police station in Cap Haitien. The U.S. soldiers, who numbered 12,000 at week's end, also disabled many of the heavy weapons of the Haitian army. But army commander Lieut. General Raoul Cedras continued to confound diplomats with his insistence that he would not leave Haiti even after Aristide's return.
Pope Cancels U.S. Visit
John Paul II, history's most peripatetic pontiff, canceled a four-day October visit to the New York City area and Baltimore, Maryland, citing a need for more recovery time from orthopedic surgery he underwent after a fall in April. The Vatican announced that John Paul, 74, still plans to make his 63rd trip abroad, to Asia, in January, but the cancellation of the American trip spurred speculation about his overall health and possible successors.
Panic in Western India
A plague deadlier than the bubonic broke out in the Indian city of Surat, killing at least 51 people. Some 400,000 residents jammed trains and buses in a panicked exodus from the polluted industrial city.
Serbs Attack, NATO Retaliates
Bosnian Serbs fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a French armored personnel carrier on U.N. peacekeeping duty outside Sarajevo, wounding a French soldier. In retaliation for that attack and three others by the Bosnian Serbs, three NATO jets destroyed a Bosnian Serb tank that had violated the 12.5-mile exclusion zone around Sarajevo. Attempting to further isolate the Bosnian Serbs from their longtime backers in Serbia, the U.N. Security Council voted to ease minor sanctions against Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia. The move came after Serbia's President agreed to enforce an embargo on the shipment of war supplies to the Serbs in Bosnia.
Serbs "Cleanse" 3,000
In the largest example of "ethnic cleansing" in nearly two years, armed Bosnian Serbs forced more than 3,000 Muslims from their homes, robbed them and herded them over battle lines. The Muslims -- mostly women, children and the elderly -- were expelled from the Bijeljina district in northeastern Bosnia.
Suu Kyi Meets with Generals
Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader in Burma, met with the two generals who govern the country for the first time since she was placed under house arrest five years ago. A government-controlled newspaper described the meeting as "cordial," without giving details. Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to restore democracy to Burma.
Russian Nukes' Power Cut Off
The overdue electricity bills hadn't been paid, so Moscow's regional power authority cut off the electricity -- to the central command of Russia's strategic nuclear missile forces. The headquarters, in a Moscow suburb, was forced to switch to a backup generator; its overdue bill totaled almost $1 million. An official statement said that "the military preparedness of the strategic missile forces was not impaired and is, as always, at the necessary level." But later in the week, nuclear submarine-building plants in the Arctic city of Severodvinsk were forced to shut down when the local power company cut off their juice.
BUSINESS
Trade Deficit Widens
Thanks largely to slow overseas sales of American aircraft and increased prices for imported oil, the U.S. trade deficit rose sharply in July to its second highest level in history. The gap, $10.99 billion, was nearly 22% higher than the June figure. Stock markets tumbled on the news, with the Dow shedding 101.6 points for the week.
Contours, Mystiques Recalled
Before even 250 of the cars were delivered, Ford Motor Co. recalled its brand- new Contour and Mercury Mystique sedans. Reason: a static electricity charge can build up on a shield attached to the fuel-filler pipe, igniting fuel vapors. The cars had been hyped by one of the most expensive advertising campaigns in company history.
SCIENCE
Genetic "Superchip"
Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago have designed a special-purpose biochemical "superchip" that can determine gene sequences -- the precise arrangement of the chemical building blocks that make up a strand of DNA -- 1,000 times as fast as conventional means. If it performs as promised, the 1-in.-sq. chip could shave years -- and hundreds of millions of dollars -- off the Human Genome Project, the worldwide effort to decipher each of the 100,000 genes found in a human cell.
SPORT
Congress Steps to the Plate
Members of a House judiciary subcommittee struck fear into the hearts of major league baseball owners when the lawmakers said they might consider stripping the sport's antitrust exemption if players and owners do not soon settle their strike.